In the back of my mind, I wondered what counted as normal fire in this world. Certainly not a creature like this staring at me with white smoldering eyes filled with contempt and coming closer. I noticed about a second later that the fire was beginning to spill out of the hearth, sparks of flame catching on the wood set in a small rack at the base of the stony furnace. Clamping my mouth shut as I pulled my hands to my mouth, I stumbled backward. Ruddy orange flames licking the air, so hot that they might have scorched me if they touched me.
From aside, I heard a loud shout and clunking footsteps. A firm grip on my shoulder yanking me backward as Uncel surged forward. “Hey now, calm down, what’s gotten into you?!” Uncel shouted, voice frantic and full of concern as they reached out to push the flames back into the hearth. My jaw fell open and I grasped the display table that I’d been flung against watching as Uncel corralled the living flame into the furnace with a bit of muttering and grumbling. After the sparks were put out, they dipped behind the counter and pulled out a few more of the stones then tossed them into the flame’s waiting mouth.
I swallowed the lump in my throat. The fire looking to me for a long while as it chewed on the rocks. Colorful sparks flying from its jaws and tinging the orange flames around its face in different shades.
“Alright enough of that,” Uncel grumbled, hammering their fist atop of the furnace, shaking loose a few particles of debris into the flames. “You never come out when we’ve got customers. What’s the special occasion, ah?”
I wanted to ask Uncel if it was wise to make them angrier but the flame seemed to take the words into account. Hissing and spitting a few times before receding into the roaring flames spewing more colorful smoke up the chimney, without a doubt. When the face was gone, I finally allowed myself to breathe and unhinged my grip on the table. My fingers aching as I looked down to the club I dropped then stooped down to pick it up. Uncel’s boots came into view with a few strides and when I stood up, they stared down at me with a raised brow and a chiding tone.
“How about we don’t mess around with fire spirits, yeah?”
I opened my mouth then snapped it shut, nodding hurriedly. Casting wary glances past Uncel’s wide frame at the furnace, feeling the uncanny sensation of something watching me.
“Fire spirits are volatile, especially when strangers enter their domain,” Uncel sighed, swiping a hand across their forehead, streaking soot across their skin. “This one especially. It’s why I handle most of my business outside and keep the workshop —” They trailed off and I looked about the workshop with a great deal of interest. With all the dusted and unused weaponry, I could imagine why no one would come inside or why a blacksmith wouldn’t want it seen.
As if running out of steam or having nothing left to say, Uncel shrugged helplessly. “Well, the workshop.” I was already confused and the joke might not have been lost on me but when I was staring flames in the eye — I think that was ground for a little quiet. Uncel seemed to notice and regarded me with disbelief. “When Fu sent the word out saying you were amnesiac, I was assuming she was being a little… well presumptuous. It should be impossible for someone to forget everything about themselves.”
I stood there, dumbfounded. On one hand, I wondered how much Granny Fu told the others about me while on the other, I felt a little ashamed. It was true that I didn’t forget everything but I didn’t have any of the memories that actually counted. Uncel sighed at my silence and muttered, “Well don’t worry about it too much. If you do, you’ll end up regretting something and life is too short for that. Just listen up to what I’ve got to say, and I’ll send you on your way. You’ll probably need it if you’re going to stay in the Forest of Spirits. “
“Forest of Spirits?”
Uncel nodded to me and I was reminded of Nubi. Granny Fu’s passing surprise at seeing her and speaking of how I came into contact with the Fair Folk.
“Sinaba is a fairly protected space but we live in the midst of a forest teeming with spirits and wildlife, who allows us to stay as long as we respect their land,” Uncel explained, passing me by. I watched as they went to retrieve one of the weapons on the shelf. It almost reminded me of a classic hero’s sword. They held it in their hands then hoisted it up to the light, the blade shining dully. “Fu has air spirits in her inn, help with the cleaning and cooking, sending messages and keeping guests out of things — you’ve seen them right?”
“Yeah.”
The memory of the wispy invisible creatures outlined in silver, barely visible to the eye, but also very real came to mind. Their ghastly voices close to my ear almost felt like a breeze curling around the back of my neck. It made my hair stand on end. Especially when I thought of the squirming spirit whisking away the prickleboar I’d brought inside.
Honestly, I still wonder what might have happened to it.
Once Uncel seemed to finish looking over the sword, they ambled over to me and held it by the hilt, taking the broken club from hand. “Here,” they said, pressing the blade’s hilt to my hand. “Tell me what you think about that.”
The weight of it caught me off guard and I grasped it with two hands quickly.
⸢ SQUIRE’S BLADE ⸥ has been acquired.
Holding it wasn’t a struggle but it was a lot heavier than the club and warmer too. The hilt of it clutched tightly in my palm was radiating a warmth all of its own. Reminding me of holding a small pocket warmer or blowing into my hands when they were pricked with cold.
“It’s warm,” I said frankly.
Uncel thumped the club against one of the displays, the wood grating as it dragged against the metal. “That all?”
“No, well…” I tried to search for any words that might have made a better impression, staring down at the blade. Hefting it to be at waist level, I tried to shift the hold of it to one hand and run my finger along the blade. There was warmth coming from it at the center, not enough to burn, but a warning. “It’s like the insides of it is warm, and it’s just…”
The longer my fingers hovered near the base of it, the greater the warmth got. Like it was swelling into a little ball threatening to burst.
“Moving.”
Uncel grumbled softly and turned away from me, reaching up to grab a staff. It almost reminded me of a mage’s wand, with the wooden head of it curved like a shepherd’s cane. They tossed it up and down a few times then offered it to me.
Like before, we traded weapons and I held the wooden staff between both my hands and lifted it a bit higher.
⸢ CYPRESS CANE ⸥ has been acquired.
The curved head of it almost hitting the wooden beams, my smile sheepish when Uncel glared at me. “It’s a little cold,” I said, squeezing the wood. Despite the heat in the room, the staff was strangely cold around its center and no matter where I touched my hands it was difficult to find a warm spot.
“All over?” Uncel asked and I shook my head.
“No, from here to here..” I pointed to the center of the staff’s shaft then to the beginning of its curve at the head. “Here, it’s a bit warmer.”
Uncel hummed and nodded, ambling around the displays while murmuring under their breath. Something I couldn’t quite make out and with a small hint of exasperation, and some tugging from Nubi, I glanced at the furnace where two white wisps were narrowed at me.
“Alright, how about this one?”
I turned just in time to see something metal hurtled in my face. Yelping, I narrowly stepped aside and grabbed it by the leather straps, sighing in relief. The staff was yanked from my other hand and I looked back to see Uncel smiling toothily, like they’d heard a funny joke.
“You’ve got pretty good reflexes.”
“.. I…” A little embarrassed, I held the metal object to me as if it could shield me from the look and those words. Averting my gaze with a small smile. “Thanks…?”
Looking down at the object, I huffed. It was a shield. I almost wondered what a shield could do in a fight aside from defense but I had no time to follow that line of thinking. Uncel urged me to pull my arm through the straps, tightening them enough that I could still move it with a little ease.
⸢ TARNISHED SHIELD ⸥ has been acquired.
“Alright, how does that feel?”
I frowned and waved my arm around. When Uncel’s hands moved away, it felt like the shield weighed a ton and was dragging my arm down. “Heavy,” I grumbled, rubbing at my shoulder as I loosened the straps. It did little to alleviate the weight and only after Uncel took it back with a thoughtful hum did I feel the strength return to my arm.
“What are we doing anyway?” I asked, rubbing at my wrist while Uncel rummaged about in chests and armoire drawers. Tossing aside scraps and bits of armor whilst grumbling to themselves.
“Looking to see what makes you you, now try this one.”
I scanned the room around me before finding a wooden staff thrust in front of me. Staring at it for a long while, I felt something turning in my stomach and my head was a little fuzzy. Carefully taking it, the weight of it was… barely there. I set one end of it to the ground, taking in the length a few centimeters taller than my head, and none-too-wide as it fit with my hand wrapped around it completely.
⸢ WEATHERED QUARTERSTAFF ⸥ has been acquired.
“It’s light like...” I trailed off, my mouth feeling dry as I tried to think of an appropriate word. “Air.”
There was a lingering silence and I wondered if Uncel was going to say something or bust out into that guffawing laughter from before.
Instead, Uncel just set the shield beside the club with a satisfied look. “Word to the wise, when you’re using elemental spells, be careful about what weapon you have in hand if it’s been attuned to another element.”
I stared for a short while and Uncel shook their head, pointing to the splintered club.
“Ysmur’s club was attuned to earth, and the spell you used was an air one, right?”
Out of a lack of anything else to say, I nodded. I used Air Blast, and it caused all that destruction but aside from that…
Spells, did I know any magic?
Unaware of my internal debate, Uncel kept explaining as they put away the other weapons and threw another handful of stones into the flames. “Air and Earth are opposites, one is sturdy and touchable while the other is flimsy and untouchable. Easiest way to put it.”
My mouth fell open and I shouted. “That’s why it exploded.”
My face felt hot when Uncel looked at me amused, laughing so hard their shoulders were trembling. “Yep, you tried to channel air through it and it made the club splinter.” They cleared their throat after awhile then fixed me with a curious look. I gripped the staff tighter as they narrowed their eyes at me. “Come to think of it, is that why you call yourself Air?”
“Huh?”
“Just thinking, it’s a strange name,” Uncel said with a shrug, rounding about the side of the counter. “If you call yourself Air because you only know how to use air elemental spells, then it makes sense.”
Although I tried telling Halide and Araminah my story, I wasn’t sure if I should. At this point it felt a little redundant and if they were all friends, it’d spread about as quick as fire. I cast a glance at the flames and swallowed when the wisps were back. Really, what did it have against me?
“Don’t worry, I’m not gonna bite your head off,” Uncel waved their hand, sitting down heavily on something wooden that creaked beneath the burden of their weight. “Thought about it earlier when I saw what you could do. Difficult trusting anyone with all the wolves running around.”
I tipped my head to one side and felt Nubi pull on my hair. Suppressing a wince, I muttered. “Wolves?”
“Players,” Uncel said with a disgusted scoff. “But they might as well be wolves in sheep’s clothing or snake’s in pig skin.”
I frowned a bit and stepped closer to the counter, not daring to lean against it but wanting to at least lessen the space between us. Although the furnace was as unfriendly as ever, Uncel seemed to be warming up to me. In their own way. “No one really seems to like them,” I said, shifting the staff to one hand.
“Picked up on that well enough, did you?” Uncel muttered with a sigh, rubbing their fingers along their forehead, smearing the soot on their fingers.
I thought back to Halide and Araminah. It was hard not to notice how disliked they were. How the mood changed every time they neared. “Why let them stay in the village?”
“Don’t have much of a choice,” Uncel said grimly, a vacant almost haunted look in their eye as they met my own. “They’re sentries, ordered by the Lord of the Land.”
My eyes widened and the red circle reappeared. I didn’t look away from Uncel but willed it to open, swallowing thickly at the words.
⸢ A HELPING HAND ⸥
Granny Fu, the owner of Sinaba’s one and only Inn, has given you three tasks to carry out in exchange for her aid and shelter in the room at the end of the hall on the inn’s second floor.
Objective(s)
— Deliver lunches to Halide and Aramina.
— Visit Uncel’s Weapon Shop.
— Collect two (2) prickle boars and deliver to Granny Fu at the Inn.
Reward(s)
— A temporary place of lodging in Sinaba.
— ( 1 ) Weathered Quarterstaff
— Information on the Enemy of Sinaba.
— ???
Oh no.
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